While the churches that hold to the Reformed faith tend to be a feature of the leafy suburbs and the middle classes in Britain, their counterparts in America have seen some exciting exceptions in US cities.
Over the past 30 years Reformed pastors and theologians have seen the need to target the city with the gospel in its fullest sense and they have witnessed God's blessing upon their labours on a truly remarkable scale. This influx of Reformed Christianity to urban areas has impacted many American cities, but the experience of the Reformed community in Philadelphia has had a very significant part to play in the overall picture.
Foothold in the city
Much of what has happened in Philadelphia has found its focus in the work of CUTS (The Centre for Urban Theological Studies). CUTS is a fully accredited theological training institute, owned and run by an association of urban churches, most of which are either Baptist or Pentecostal and is located in one of the inner city areas. Since these churches are themselves in downtown areas and understand the needs of ministering God's Word there, they broker the educational needs of their constituencies to qualified teachers and appropriate courses from other institutions.
